Icap, the London-based bond broker on trial for allegedly poaching top employees in a bid to destroy 9/11-ravaged Cantor Fitzgerald, is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for its dealings with yet another company.

The London Daily Telegraph yesterday reported that the Justice Department has been asked by Congress to look into the company’s stake in Blackbird, a North Carolina firm – and whether Icap is trying to take it over to shut it down.

The issue is also scheduled to be heard in a Delaware court next month.

Icap claims it has a controlling interest in Blackbird, which operates an electronic-brokerage system.

It bought a 19 percent stake in the firm 18 months ago and is now claiming its stock is preferred – giving it voting rights equal to 31 percent of the company’s shares.

Icap has also hired a co-founder of Blackbird with a 20 percent stake in the company.

Steve McDermott, CEO of Icap’s U.S. electronic-brokerage operations, downplayed the Justice Department’s interest in the case, telling the Telegraph that “the Justice Department receives many of these requests every month.”

He noted that “anti-trust is an issue when you try to take over too much of a market, but I am certain that Blackbird is too small a company to be a concern for the Department of Justice.”

And he insisted that Icap is not planning a takeover of Blackbird but only wants to assert its voting rights.

Blackbird, which has 15 employees, five directors and 130 shareholders, said it has complied with a Justice Department request to provide information relating to the case.

Charges against Icap for its alleged poaching of Cantor Fitzgerald staffers is currently being heard in London’s High Court.